Companies and investors are increasingly engaging on sustainability. The recent moves on climate issues made by Royal Dutch Shell, Glencore, and BP show how investor pressure (and in particular the Climate Action 100+ investor group) is helping shape corporate behavior. Last month, for the first time in its 30-year history, the nonprofit sustainability organization Ceres
Inherent Foundation helped create and invested in an innovative financing structure called Pursuit Bonds, which are helping provide workforce training to those with great potential and great need via the Pursuit organization. ‘So far, the graduate placement rate exceeds Inherent’s assumptions, the default rate is lower, and the average salary of the repaying graduates is
Over the coming year, global capital markets may face a trio of torpedoes in the water: slowing growth, rising interest rates, and net aggregate withdrawal of liquidity by the world’s major central banks. Value-oriented managers are looking forward to bargains as capital is reallocated through the cycle. Unlike prior cycles, however, we believe that success
On December 4, 2018, Tony spoke at the Milken Institute’s London Summit on a panel entitled “The Evolution of ESG and Asset Management.” The panel, moderated by Marisa Drew of Credit Suisse, included representatives from CDPQ London, Shenkman Capital, and the UK Local Authority Pension Fund. The video is available here. Tony describes how Inherent
On December 3, 2018, Tony spoke at the Morgan Stanley SDG Investor Seminar. (The SDGs are the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.) Tony discussed how Inherent integrates the SDGs into our investment process, primarily using them as a way to identify investment ideas aligned with critical global megatrends. He also explained how the firm maps its
On November 13, Inherent Group joined with other investors representing nearly $570 billion of assets under management in signing an open letter to Mr. Jay Clayton, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, urging the SEC to maintain Rule 14a-8 as is. Under Rule 14a-8, a company is required to include shareholder proposals from eligible
Mid-term election results showed that decarbonization remains a second-tier issue for most voters. Initiative 1631, a carbon tax in Washington State was defeated, the second time the Washington electorate voted no on a carbon tax. In addition, Carlos Curbelo, the Republican incumbent from Florida’s 26th District was defeated. Curbelo started the Climate Solutions Caucus in
Inherent Group joined a group of investors in signing an open letter, released today, to Mr. Lawrence Culp, the new CEO of General Electric. The letter urges GE to invest more in the development and deployment of clean power technologies and related infrastructure rather than fossil fuel-based technologies. As the cost of clean technologies continues
There’s long been a debate about the role of business in society, which I’ll address in a later post. For now, let’s stick with related question of whether it pays for an investor to focus on ESG. There’s a growing body of rigorous, quantitative evidence that it does (e.g., Harvard study, Barclays report, Stanford working paper), but
Over the past year we have spoken with dozens of companies about ESG performance and disclosure. Sustainability teams are thinly staffed and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of surveys, requests for information, and the alphabet soup of reporting frameworks competing for their attention. The good news is that there is increased recognition in the market
Tony Davis is quoted in a piece by Emelia Hamilton Russell in Spear’s Magazine entitled “The New Capitalism: Has Wealth Found a New Conscience?” She discusses the rapid growth in assets invested in impact-related strategies and how capitalism is evolving. In the article, Tony comments: “Eventually, all funds will have an impact component, and that
On January 23, 2018, Tony Davis participated in a Knowledge@Wharton podcast entitled “How to Drive Competitive Returns with Impact Investing.” He discussed how Inherent Group incorporates material ESG factors into its investment process, his personal investing approach, and Inherent Foundation’s strategy across charitable contributions and program- and mission-related investments. After the interview with Tony in
On May 3, 2016, Tony Davis spoke at the Milken Institute on a panel entitled “Impact Investing: Where are the Deals?” Moderated by Amit Bouri, CEO of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), panelists describe a range of approaches to incorporating sustainability into investment strategies, how to find deals, and how to track outcomes, among
